Ellen Susan’s “Soldier Portraits” was one of the most beautiful and provocative exhibits at the Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center in 2010.

Susan’s portraits of active duty soldiers had special resonance because she’s a modern expert with the Civil War-era collodion wet plate process.

The long exposures make the work demanding for both photographers and subjects, who have to sit unusually still until the camera finds enough light to capture an image on glass or tin.

Now Savannah-based Susan has created a new process using strobe lights of varying brightness that flood the subject with light. The resulting tintype has the same richness and detail as in the old process, but the image can be produced in a fraction of the time.

Susan calls the new method “Tinstamatic.” Her first Tinstamatic pop-up studio will be on Nov. 18 during an open house for Oglethorpe Gallery at 406 East Oglethorpe Ave.

From noon to 7 p.m., Susan will be shooting 20 different subjects who have purchased sessions in advance. At press time, Sunday’s portrait sessions were already sold out, but interested parties will definitely want to drop by to witness the 19th-century process firsthand.

The tintypes capture features and skin tones in surprising ways. For example, freckles appear unusually prominent, and faces generally end up invested with far more character than in modern photography.

A couple of months ago, I volunteered to be one of Susan’s test subjects when she was experimenting with the strobes and fine-tuning the process.

The lights are really bright, fast and warm. An image is available within minutes.

There’s something stunning, strange and even humbling in seeing such clear — even honest — images of oneself.

Sunday’s guests can register to be notified about Susan’s future Tinstamatic events and get information about booking more formal portrait sessions with options for larger plates and prints.

The event is also an open house for Oglethorpe Gallery, which will feature a group show that includes some of Susan’s work. Guests can also get information about exhibiting in the gallery.